Bad loans hurt PSU bank bottomlines

New Delhi, Jan. 31: Three public sector banks have reported a substantial decline in net profit for the third quarter ended December owing to higher provisioning for bad loans.

Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank witnessed a 42 per cent decline in their bottomlines, while the Oriental Bank of Commerce posted a 31 per cent fall in profit.

Net profit of Punjab National Bank fell 42.1 per cent to Rs 755 crore from Rs 1,306 crore in the October-December quarter of 2012-13.

Total provisions, including for income tax, made during the reporting quarter stood at Rs 1,947 crore against Rs 1,376 crore in the year-ago period, an increase of 41.4 per cent, PNB chairman and managing director K.R. Kamath said.

Provisions just on account of bad loans have more than doubled to Rs 1,083 crore from Rs 466 crore a year ago.

“We are moving from consolidation strategy to growth strategy and we are seeing the results,” Kamath said.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances rose to 4.96 per cent from 4.61 per cent a year ago. Net NPAs went up to 2.80 per cent from 2.56 per cent.

Canara Bank’s net profit fell 42.39 per cent to Rs 409.35 crore during the third quarter from Rs 710.51 crore a year ago.

Total income grew to Rs 10,935 crore from Rs 9,390.29 crore in the same period a year ago. Gross NPA stood at Rs 8,074 crore, with a gross NPA ratio of 2.79 per cent against 2.77 per cent in December 2012.

Total provision made for the quarter stood at Rs 1,182 crore compared with Rs 799 crore for the second quarter and Rs 1,106 crore for the first quarter of 2013-14.

Net profit of the Oriental Bank of Commerce fell 31.2 per cent to Rs 224.30 crore in the third quarter ended December from Rs 326.40 crore a year ago.

The bank’s gross NPA rose to 3.87 per cent from 2.98 per cent in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs rose to 2.91 per cent from 2.14 per cent.

Total income rose to Rs 5,063.98 crore from Rs 4,846.54 crore in the year-ago period.